I got my oldest signed up for teeball. I'm real excited about it, but my son is scared to do it. On the up-side, hubs and I did our taxes last week. We are finally getting money back, but with registration on our boat, new tires for our travel trailer, and a new generator, it's already been spent.

Sarah - Hi. I don't know if we have ever met. My name is Amy. I have a husband and two boys who are pretty much 7 and 5. I live in So.Cal right by Arizona. The Colorado River is maybe five miles from my house so we go to the river a whole lot. We also have a Razor. If you aren't familiar with it, it's like an off-road golf cart, although we haven't taken it to Glamis yet.

Sean - Have you ever thought about on-line dating? I know it's sometimes hard for you to leave your home, so the internet is always an option. KFC chicken is not as good as it used to be. They closed down ours here about six months ago. The better chicken here is at Albertsons. Although nobody can match KFC's mac n' cheese.

Marielle - Please don't be sad.

I better go back to work. Yes I have to work today. Hubs is home with our boys today. It's a good thing too. Boys went to bed real late last night because hubs made brownies and thought it would be "a good idea" for them to have some...at 7:30 at night.

After a bad day with aggressive emails from one of our authors, Rochelle is seriously thinking of closing the doors. She has had some health issues lately and she is feeling so down that she's not sure she can continue with the business. I'm not sure what to think. I know she is suffering, and I don't think I can force her to continue for the sake of my book. That's not fair.

If you are praying people, please pray. There are some serious issues going on and I don't know what to think of it. We need some real guidance at the moment so we know what to do.

Top Gear will be on tonight, and I'll be going to bed a lot earlier than I have been the past few days because I work tomorrow, and the rest of the week until I get off work Friday. But still, I'm gonna try, a little later on and between showings of TG, to finish chapter 6 of my story.

Amy: I did try working with an internet dating website a while ago, and it didn't really work out. I never really got a response out of anyone, and maybe trying the "old fashioned" way might be better. It just wasn't really working, and between work and family related stuff, I just stopped really doing anything with it.

At least I have some plans for my future fan fic ideas below--since I know that you're a fan of the Volturi, I think that you'll like some of my ideas for them

Lynne: Sorry that things aren't looking good for your boss right now and the company that she owns. I know that feeling from working at the library a few years ago--I always felt that I'd get the ax every time that the phrase "budget cuts" abound, and my mom lost her job last year when the company that owned Wonder/Hostess shut that division down. I'm not a praying person, but I do hope the best for you and your boss right now.

Everyone/fan fic update and ideas: I'm also working on an angle for a later chapter of my fan fic, and there's a definite connection to both Twilight and Guyver here. It concerns something that I know about Natsuki from the canon of the Guyver manga/anime series. In Bio-Booster Armor Guyver, Natsuki Taga (one of the major female protagonist) is a devout Christian, and hence she doesn't like how Chronos (the antagonist organization) is trying to "play god" by encouraging people to be processed into the part human, part alien mutated creatures known as Zoanoids and their methodology behind it--she outright detests it. And in Twilight, it can be seen that the Volturi may be trying to "play god" and for sure, Joham (Nauhel's biological father) can be seen as attempting to do as such. I'm not a very religious or spiritual person, but I can see why some would have an issue with such scenarios. I personally don't advocate one trying to "play god", be it with excessive interfering with the course of nature, or with certain rulers of the world, ie Fascist or Communist dictators--Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, for two examples, could be seen as trying to "play god" by trying to make themselves the only major authority over their people, trying to goad their populace into believing as they did, and basically stopping short of brainwashing people to believe in their radical political and ethical views.

For my part, I consider it unethical to try and force ideals on to others. I have no problem with people expressing their religious, ethical, political or any other views, but the line to me gets crossed when people try and aggressively force their views onto others as the "only" solution out there--I don't believe that there's one right answer out there, nor any answer that necessarily wrong, and that's something that we all have to figure out for ourselves as individuals. That's why I say that god gave us free will, and a brain to use it to think for ourselves while being tolerant and courteous/respectful of others.

In my story, though, it does set up a area of conflict, though it's not the main one in my story, but it's still a major point of contention between the protagonists in my story and the antagonists. That's something else that Twilight and Guyver have in common--people trying to be an all-empowered authority who espouse that their beliefs and theories are the only ones that are really "right" and are the only worth whole solution to all the problems out there, when really, there's no answers that will solve all problems--there's no "be all, end all" solutions out there. And though they're not the bad guys, or really trying to "play god", I do think that Amy will get a kick out of what some of the members of the Volturi do as jobs after the abdicate--especially Aro, that's gonna be hilarious .

I'll try and finish up chapter 6 and maybe a few other things tonight before I go to sleep. And I'll try and work out what's gonna happen with later chapters.

Fan fic update #2: I've finally finished chapter 6 of my fan fic. Now on to Top Gear and what ever other items I want/need to do tonight. I also need to sort out some change stuff for when I get it exchanged at the bank later this week. Tonight's a good night for just relaxing before I got back to work. There's no need for the wood stove tonight, and all I need to do is decide if I want chicken spring rolls or chicken and cremini mushroom lasagna.

But this might be the last message for tonight. I have some gaming that I want to do tonight and some dinner to eat, whatever I choose to eat. Today was a pretty good day overall, even if it was a short day.

That means I didn't have to teach today! Whoo hoo! I worked on my book for a couple of hours and then had lunch with my mom, my aunt, and my cousin for her birthday. Very fun! Then I came home and started making some homemade beef broth to use for beef barley soup. I had some soup bones left in the freezer from when I bought 1/16 of a grass fed cow last fall. It smells so good! Let's not forget this gentleman.

Lynne - Wow. That's horrible! I will indeed pray for things to turn out. Hopefully it was just an overreaction to the very bad day. Please keep us posted. Marielle - Sorry you're feeling so blue about that singer. You need to think about how he is now - how he has found his way. You're alone this week at home or at work? It can be fun at home for a couple of days, but then it just gets lonely. At least you have your kitty now.Amy - I'm glad you have been having such quality family time! I'm so glad things have worked out with you and your hubs. Hooray for getting money back on taxes, even if it is already spent. T-Ball - at least your son will get a chance to try it. Maybe he'll like it, or maybe he won't. It's ok if he doesn't (in my opinion), but encourage him to finish out the season. There are ways to make it extra fun, like go out for ice cream afterwards, or invite another kid from the team to come over. That being said, My son didn't like T-Ball at all. He was more of an individual sports guy, like gymnastics, and now he's a circus aerialist! Sarah - I'm so glad you'll be done with all that Math studying soon. Will you look for a job right after you graduate?Sean - That is great that you are writing so much! It's very rewarding isn't it? I'm sorry I don't know anything about Guyver, so much of what you've been telling us is lost on me.

Tammy - It was a little confusing because we had two Halfway Houses open at once for a time being. I loved your contributions!Tonise - It's just so nice to see you at the Halfway House!Desiree - Here's a fly-by Hiiiiiiiii! I'm finishing up the epilogue on City of Bones and then I'll check out the discussion in the HHLibrary group. I'm such a slowpoke!Bye for now!

I think she's feeling a bit more positive this morning. She's planning to keep the business going, but wants me and the other girl who works for us to handle more of the conversations with authors, etc, and she will work more behind the scenes. I don't have a problem with that. She's also planning to cut down a bit next year. This year she is publishing 30 books! Considering there are only three of us on staff and none of us are full time, this is a huge amount. Next year she's aiming at 16. I hope she'll be able to stick to that.

Sean - yes, we've had ups and downs with our own small business for years. There's always something going on when you're involved with a small business!

Susie - I'm glad you were able to have some time off today. It's sounds lovely. Yes, I will continue to keep you posted with what's going on. It's very up and down at the moment.

I don’t have much to report from my side of the world. It’s boring being home alone and too silent. Even the cat misses his play buddy. I try to play with him but I have to do all the other stuff as well.

Everybody knows I have feel really sad the last two days and I want to thank you all for your kind words. I know it’s not my fault that my teen hero made those decisions and that’s not what I’m sad about. I’m sad and heartbroken for him. He should have been happy and enjoying life as much as we did enjoy his music (and looks). But it’s the past now and he is working on a new album! I can’t wait to hear his new sound. I’m pretty sure that all my Christian sisters will enjoy it as well. Most of his songs are very religious and while I am not a Christian I just love to listen to him sing…

Sadly there is not much Rob news to report. He is still shooting in Aussie land. There have been no more set pics showing up…but I’m guessing he is enjoying the Australian sun.

Alright, posts:

Sean, would you believe that I almost never eat fried stuff. Maybe only once a month. It’s just too fat and oily for me to handle. Normally I bake or grill a lot. Also the oven works overtime in my house. We have tried once to fry chicken in a hot pan and it worked really well but the result wasn’t worth the work and the smell that stayed in the house.

Sarah, I’m so not in the mood for working right now!!! I wish I had taken the week off but I need my free days later this year. I just don’t enjoy working in this place anymore.

Amy, isn’t it always the same. Money is almost always already spend before it even gets in…

Lynne, I’m sorry things seem to turn for the worst with your job.

Susie, my bf is on a skiing trip for the week. So I’m home alone now. I always had fun being home alone for a few days. Just being able to do what I want when I want it. Sadly this week isn’t one of them. It isn’t a good time to be alone as there are still so many things that need to be arranged that brings so much stress with it. Besides that I’m still suffering from a persistent cold that won’t seem to go away. I’m wondering if it isn’t a better idea to call in sick for a few days and stay in bed or under a blanket.Yes, the cat is keeping me good company, though the poor thing is search for his play buddy. I think he had run to the door about 8 times yesterday whenever he heard somebody outside…

Alright, that’s it for today.I’ll see you all later!!

These violent delights, have violent endings...Like fire and gunpowder, they consume what they kiss

I am sorry to be a bit distant this past week. I've got some issues going on right now that are keeping me up at night and I'm so tired during the day that I end up sleeping instead of getting on the computer or doing anything else. Bug has been sick since last Thursday...she's had a fever every day. So far MM hasn't caught it *knock on wood* and I hope he doesn't because he got invited to his first birthday party on Saturday....I don't want him to have to miss it! Hubs' heart seems to be ok, but they are still doing all sorts of tests. The cardiologist said there was a slight deviation in pattern on the ECG, but if you picked 100 people off the street, 10 of them would have that, and of those 10, only one or 2 would likely have anything really wrong. But, to be safe, they are going to do a 24 hour test where he'll be hooked up to a monitor type thing the whole day as he goes about his day. That's on the 6th of March. Today he had his glucose level checked...it's still within range but on the high side so the doc wants to keep him monitored on that. Then on the 19th of March he'll have a stress test. But so far nothing serious. But It appears that I am going to have to make a trip home to Wyoming this summer to take care of some things with my dad. I've already got some friends lined up where I can stay, and they will provide me with transportation as I don't have a valid drivers licence and can't GET one because I have no proof of residency. I will be traveling by myself as we can't afford to go with the whole family. The upside is that I will probably also get to see my niece who will be only 2 or 3 months old by then. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of going home, but I do NOT like going by myself, and I do NOT like the reason for it. My dad will be 80 a month from tomorrow and I'm getting reports that he is not able to adequately care for himself...he lives alone on a ranch 20 miles from the nearest town. With no one to look in on him, it is not safe with his heart condition and his knees, for him to be alone all the time. If something happened and he fell, or had a stroke, etc, it could be days before he was found, and he is apparently living in squalor and has some behaviors that make me wonder about his mental state. He was forced to retire in 2012 because he could not perform the job tasks anymore and was forgetful. In short, it seems like it is time for him to possibly go into some sort of assisted living facility, but he is not convinced. If you are inclined to pray, I would really appreciate some prayers for his health and safety, and that God would guide him to be where he is taken care of. I haven't really told anyone beyond my brother and a few people from whom I've asked for help. I've got a friend who retired a couple of weeks ago from the sheriff's office who is going to make some calls and perhaps perform a welfare check-in, a cousin who works in a nursing home that at least USED to also have assisted living apartments, and a few friends to check in on my dad if they don't hear from him. But beyond that, no one knows, so please, I would appreciate it if nothing was mentioned on my facebook as I don't want people to worry and I don't want everyone and their dog back home knowing about it. It's a gossipy town. But that's what's going on with me.

Lynne, I hope Rochelle can keep the doors open. I will pray for her, and for you.

Marielle, the choices he made are not your fault. I know you know that logically, but there is nothing anyone could have done to change that...there's very rarely only 1 problem when someone contemplates suicide....it's usually a lot of things put together. And perhaps the pressures of his career contributed, but I would bet that his fans were one of the few things that kept him going, too. So maybe you could look at it as you helped keep him alive by supporting him...he had to feel the love of his fans, and even if there was pressure, he would know he was cared about. There was a country singer who committed suicide just in the last week or so in the U.S,. and I read that just before she did, she was helping out with a suicide loss program to help people who have lost someone to suicide to cope with it. She obviously appreciated her fans and knew they would miss her. Be happy that your singer made it through that very dark place, and you may have had something to do with that.